RELATIVES and friends of St Cesidio (Angelo) Giacomantonio came together for his feast day last Saturday in Everton Park parish on Brisbane’s northside.
It was the 10th annual Mass for the family and was celebrated by Scalabrinian Father Giovanni Pagnin.
About 60 people gathered at Immaculate Conception Church to remember the Franciscan priest who was born in 1873 in Fossa, in the Abruzzo region of Italy, east of Rome, and was martyred for the faith in China in 1900.
Four direct descendants of St Cesidio were present at the July 7 Mass – brothers Dino and Nino Giacomantonio and their cousins Loreto and Sam Giacomantonio.
The men’s grandfather was St Cesidio’s brother.
Also present was Guido Di Marco who is related to the saint on St Cesidio’s mother’s side.
There are other descendants in Toowoomba.
St Cesidio was canonised by Pope John Paul II in 2000.
Dino Giacomantonio and his family were present at the canonisation and he remembers it fondly.
“It was very special,” he said.
“We remember the feast every year.”
Sam Giacomantonio, who has seen a copy of the saint’s last will and testament, said many of St Cesidio’s relics remain with the Franciscans.
“They have some of his clothing and the body parts that didn’t burn,” he said.
Sam Giacomantonio said that included “an arm”.
As a child Cesidio (Angelo) would visit a Franciscan monastery and was said to “have felt God calling him to join the order”.
In 1891 he embarked on his postulancy and novitiate at St Giuliano, Aquilina, and took the religious name Cesidio.
He was ordained a priest in 1897 and was sent to Rome the following year for further studies and as a candidate for missionary work.
On Christmas Day 1899 Fr Cesidio arrived in China for missionary outreach.
Rebels attacked a residence housing the Blessed Sacrament in Hengyang, in China’s Hunan Province, on July 4, the following year.
Fr Cesidio is said to have “rushed to the chapel” to protect the Blessed Sacrament during the attack without considering his personal safety.
He was captured, wrapped in a blanket, soaked in petrol and set alight.
Fr Cesidio was 26 when he was martyred for the faith.
